Rail anchor



Nov; 28, 1939. H. GgwARR' 2.l81,616

RAIL ANCHOR Filed Nov. 18, 1957 :s Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov; 28, 1939. w R2,181,616

RAIL ANCHOR Filed. Nov. 18, 1931 s Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 28, 1939;

H. G. WARR RAIL ANCHOR Filed NOV. 18, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 PatentedNov. 28, 1939 U'NlTED STATES PATIENT- OFFICE? mesne assignments, to Poor& Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Appiication 6Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in .one- .piece rail anchorsgenerally and more specifically to one-piece anchors having upper andlower jaws for gripping the top and bottom surfaces, respectively, ofone base flange of a rail at different distances relative to the edge ofsaid flange and having a flexible portion adapted to be flexed outwardlyrelative to the other flange of the rail basev and forced upwardly intolocking engagement therewith.

In order to provide anchors of the above specific character with jawportions of suitable width and at the same time permit the anchors to bereadily flexed over the rail base, they have been made heretofore fromrelatively wide and thin metal bars, a wide side of the bar beingarranged toface the, rail. The said bars being relatively thin providethe desired flexibility transversely of the rail to facilitateapplication of the devices, but do not provide sufficient tie bearingarea. and consequently have a pronounced tendency to out into thecross-ties when the rails move in a direction to press the anchorsagainst said ties.

The use of a wide bar in the manufacture of an anchor of theabove'character reduces the tendency which the relatively thin jaws mayhave to spread apart, in that the wide-bar provides the anchor withupper and lower jaws of such width as to minimize their shackle grippingaction on the top and bottom surfaces of the'rail base when thedownwardly bowed body of the anchor is pressed against a vertical faceof a cross-tie. The said shackle gripping action is further reduced, insaid old form of anchor, by the fact that the widest portion of theupper jaw exerts its vertical grip on the rail at the edge or thinnestportion of the rail base.

An object of the present inventionis to provide new and improvedconstructions for anchors of the type hereinabove referred to, wherebythe rail gripping actions heretofore characterizing such types ofanchors are improved and made more effective for resisting longitudinalcreeping movements of a rail, increasing the tie bearing area for saidtypes of anchors, and making it practical to form such anchor of lessmaterial than heretofore required. 7

Another object of the invention is to provide improved and simplifiedconstructions for onepiece anchors of the above character which pr0-vide new rail holding grips not heretofore provided in such anchors,which new gripping actions cooperate with the grips heretofore presentin such types of anchors to increase the efiiciency of. the anchor;devices.

in the manufacture of such anchors. both end portions of the bar areflattened to ,pro-

- tion of the bearing surfaces of the jaws.

November 18,1937, Serial No. 175,277

In Canada May 3, 1937 According to the present invention, anchors oftical thickness than have been used heretofore One orv vide anilpper jawand/or a locking tail portion of substantially greater widthjthanthelower .jaw .andjthe under ,rail body portio-nof the anchor.

The effective widthof theupper and lower jaws for exerting a shackle,hold on the top and bottom surfaces of the rail is defined by thevertical plane of one side of the lower jaw and the edge ofthe widenedupper jaw which projects beyond -thevertical plane of the other side ofthelower jaw. The use of a bar of less widthbut of greater :verticalthickness than heretofore ,usedprovides a ,substantialincrease in the,tie abutting area of 1 the improved anchor without sacrificing thedesired strengthvof the anchor and without.in-

creasing theweight of the anchor. In some embodiments of the inventionthe-horizontal width of the lower jaw may be less than the verticalthickness thereof, the said width being so proportioned relative to theupper jaw as to inthe upper jaw with the top surface of the rail 7 baseat alocation spaced fromjthe edge thereof .andthereby improve theshackle gripping action of ,the jaws .on therailbase by reason of theeffective increase in the vertically spaced rela- In addition to thisimprovement of the shackle gripping actionof the upper and lower jawsthe said improved embodiments effect an additional vertical-grip'on'therail when the anchor shifts to a diagonal position and thereby causesthe wid- 'ened' jaw to rotate about a vertical axis passing. throughastop surface at the edge of the rail. The said turning movement of thewidened jaw causes the widened portion at one edgerthereof to moveupwardly on the inclined surface of the rail base and therebyincreasethe verticalv pressure of the upper and; lower jaws on, the rail.

.Further objects and advantages of the invene tionwill be apparentfromthe detailed descrip- I Fig. 1 is a side view of a rail anchordevice constructed in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the rail anchor device shown in Fig. 1 appliedto a rail.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 1 so as toillustrate the effective width of the rail-gripping surfaces forresisting the forces tending to turn the jaws about a horizontal axiswhen the body portion of the anchor is forced against a vertical face ofa cross tie.

Fig. a is a plan view of an anchor of the type shown in Fig. 2 butmodified in certain respects.

Fig. 5 is a side View of the rail anchor shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 are views similar to Figs. 4 and 5 but illustrating afurther modification, and

Fig. 8 is a view illustrating the manner in which the tail portions ofsaid modifications may be flattened and widened to increase the bearingarea of said portions against an edge of a rail base.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 inclusive of the drawings, ldesignates the base portion of a railroad rail, H a supportingcross-tie, 12 a tie plate interposed between the tie and the rail base,and I3 designates a rail anchor made in accordance with this inventionand applied to the rail base. The said anchor device 13, insofar as itsgeneral contour is concerned, is of well known form and in this respectmay be briefly described as comprising a downwardly bowed body orunderrail portion 14, a hooked end portion 15 at one end and a lockingtail portion 16 at the other end. The hooked end portion l provides theanchor with an upper jaw ill and a lower jaw l8 which are so positionedwith relation to each other that the upper jaw bears against the uppersurface of the rail base at a location near the edge of the base and thelower jaw l8 bears against the bottom surface of the rail base at agreater distance inwardly from the edge of said base. The arrangement ofthe upper and lower jaws permits them to be loosely slipped over oneflange of a rail base and thereafter moved into clamping engagement withthe top and bottom surfaces thereof by turning the hook end of theanchor about the bearing surface 18a; the said turning movement beingeffected by moving the tail end portion it upwardly to its operativeposition. The said locking tail I6 is resilient and adapted to be flexedoutwardly relative to the edge of the rail base during the applicationof the anchor to the rail so that the anchor when in its appliedposition will exert resilient grips both vertically and transversely ofthe rail; the vertical resilient grip being effected by the aforesaidupward movement of the tail end of the anchor and the transverseresilient grip being effected by the outward flexing of the said tail.

The general constructions described above are recognized to be old inthe art. It is to be understood, therefore, that the present inventionresides in the hereinafter described improvements which make itpracticable to accomplish the objects of the invention. Certain of saidimprovements were originally disclosed in a prior application Serial No.80,047, filed May 16, 1936 (now Patent No. 2,101,884), of which thepresent application is a continuation in part.

The rail anchor shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 is made from a steel bar, thehorizontal thickness of which is substantially less than the breadth orvertical dimension of the bar. Preferably one or both ends of the barare flattened before the bar is bent to the configuration shown inFig. 1. The flattened portion at one end of the bar provides the jaw I!with a rail bearing surface I 9, which is substantially wider than thebottom bearing Illa of the lower jaw. By inspection of Fig. 3 of thedrawings it will be seen that the narrower under rail portion of theanchor is centralized with relationto the width of the flattened endportion and that the widened end portions do not bear against thecrosstie. Therefore, either side of the underrail body portion of the anchormay bear against a vertical face of the cross-tie, depending upon whichside of the rail the hook portion of the anchor engages. The upper andlower jaws I1 and l 8 are held in clamping engagement with the top andbottom surfaces of the rail base by the resilient pressure incident tothe upward movement of the locking tail It, the latter of which has ashoulder 21] adapted to snap over the upper corner portion of the railbase. In order to facilitate the flexing of the locking end of theanchor outwardly relative to the rail, the upper end of the tail isinclined, as indicated at 2 i, to provide a cam surface 22 which ridesover the edge of the rail base when this end is forced upwardly to itsapplied position. The horizontal width of the lower jaw 18 and itsposition relative to the widened upper jaw i'i is such that the shacklegrip of the jaws is greater than the corresponding grip present in theold form of anchor, because the effective width A of the improved jawsis less than the effective width of the jaws of anchors of the samegeneral contour which have been made heretofore from bars of greaterwidth. Preferably the vertical thickness of the bar correspondssubstantially to the width of the upper jaw and provides the addedstrength to resist any tendency which the jaws of reduced width mighthave to spread apart during the presence of the canting or turningaction of the jaws. The taper and widening of the bar is such that itdoes not reduce Y the effective strength of the jaws. The bendconnecting the upper and lower jaws of the anchor is preferably formedso as to insure a contact with the upper corner portion of the railbase. The under-rail portion of the anchor being arranged edgewise tothe rail so that a wide side face of the anchor bears against the crosstie, prevents the anchor body from cutting into the cross-tie. When theupturned end it of the anchor is flattened and widened, the widenedportion thereof corresponds in width to the flattened portion of the jawill and is therefore substantially wider than the horizontal dimensionof the downwardly bowed under-rail portion of the anchor. By wideningthe end portion it in the above manner the anchor body is given aneffective width, insofar as the engagement with the opposite edges ofthe rail base is concerned, equal to the widest portion of the flattenedends. The engagement of the flattened end portions with the edgeportions of the rail base at points indicated at 23 and 24 and at pointsindicated by the numerals 25 and 26, resists the pressures ordinarilyencountered in service tending to turn the anchor about a vertical axisto an abnormal diagonal position across the rail. The flattened endportions of the anchor being of greater width than the tie engagingunder-rail portion, are so proportioned in length as to avoid contactwith the cross-tie when the anchor is in its applied position.

The anchor device illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawings is of thesame general contour as the anchor device illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and3, but is modified in certain respects. The modified anchor ispreferably made from a bar of less horizontal width than heretofore usedfor tical faces are somewhat wider than the corresponding faces of the'old anchors. One end of the bar is flattened and widened and the bar isbent adjacent to said flattened and widened portion into hook form toprovide a" relative wide upper jaw 27 and a narrower lower jaw 28. Theupper and lower jaws are positioned to bear against the top andbottomsurfaces of the rail base, respectively, at different locationsrelative to the edge of the rail, the upper jaw being positioned to bearagainst the upper surface at a location intermediate the edge of therail base and the point of bearing of the lower jaw against the bottomsurface of the rail. The bend connecting the upper andlower jaws isformed so as to bear against the upper corner portion of the rail baseat the point29, the curvature of the bendextending along a portion ofthe jaw 21 so as to provide a substantial clearance between the jaw andthe toplof the rail base adjacent the edge of the base. bend is suchthat the under surface of the jaw,

' adjacent the contact, 29, will function'as acam,

when the heavier portion of the jawis struck by a derailed car wheel, soas to force the jaw 27 outwardly and thereby relieve the edge of therail tending to turn the widened portion of the jaw 21 about a verticalaxis passing through the abutment surface at either point 23 will forcea widened side portion of the jaw upwardly on the inclined surface ofthe rail base andthereby increase the vertical gripping action of thejaws 2i and 28 on the top and bottom surfaces of the rail base. Thisgripping action is in adidtion to the gripjexcrted by jaws on the railby reason of the upward movement of the locking tail portion 3| to itsoperative position. The locking tail portion 3! of this embodiment ispreferably, but not necessarily, of, the same width as the under railbody portion of the anchor. The width of the lower jaw 28 issubstantially less than the width of the upper jaw 21 and is centralizedwith relation to the widened upper jaw in the same manner as describedin connection with the previous embodiment. The proportions of the saidjaws, as

herein illustrated, give them a more effective shackle grip because ofthe fact that the upper jaw bears on a thicker portion of the rail baseand therefore provides a greater spread between the bearing surfaces ofthe upper and lower jaws than is obtained in the old form of anchors andalso by reason of the narrower effective width of the two jaws inpreventing rotation of the anchor about a horizontal axis extendingtransversely of the rail. In other respects the contour of this improvedanchor may be the same as shown in Fig. 1. The common features of thetwo embodimer ts of the invention are, therefore, illustrated by the useoft-he same reference numerals.

The anchor device illustrated in Figs. 6 and '7 is of' the same generalcharacter as the other anchors illustrated herein, but is somewhatdifferent in structural detail. For example, the

under-rail body portion is bowed downwardly.

il basev adiace t oppos te; d es hereof; T e.

Preferably, the curvature of the end of the anchoradjacentthe "lower jaw33 is bent into hook form to provide an upper jaw 35. Thisend of the.anchor may be and preferably is of the same construction as the hook endof the device shown in Fig. and functions in the upper corner portion ofthe rail base to lock the anchor on'the rail. This form of anchor isapplied to the rail in the same general manner.

asthe anchor previously described, to wit: The

hook end of the anchor is slipped loosely over one flange of a rail baseand the other end is forced upwardly and flexed outwardly into lookingengagement with the other flange of the rail. The upwardmovement of thelocking end of the anchor forces the upper and lower jaws of the hookend of the anchor into clamping engage ment with the top and bottomsurfaces, respec-' tively, of the rail base. The upper jaw 35 issubstantially wider than thelower jaw 33 and the bend connecting theupper and lower jaws is substantially narrower than the upper jaw andbears against the upper corner of the rail base at 38 for the samepurpose as previously described. It will be seen, thereforethat anymovement of the anchor tending to move the widened jaw 35 about avertical axis passing througheither the points 38, for example, when thepressure at the looking end of the anchor against the cross-tie tends tomove it to a diagonal position, the turning movement of the widened jawwill force one of its widened edges upwardly on the rail base andtherefore increase the vertical grip of the, upper andlower jaws on thetop and bottom surfaces of the rail base. The outwardly turned portionof the locking end of the anchorprovides a cam surface'39 adapted tobear against the edge of the rail base and thereby flex the anchortransversely of the rail when the locking end is forced upwardlyover-the rail-base.

While bothembodiments shown in Figs. 4 to 7 inclusive have beenillustrated herein as having a widened and flattened portion at the hookend only of the anchor, these embodiments may be further modified byflattening and widening the locking end portions 3! and 36,respectively, in a manner indicated by the reference numeral M in Fig. 8and thereby increase the effectivewidth of the anchor for resistingmovement thereof about a vertical axis.

I I claim: 1. A rail anchor comprising a metal bar, an end portion ofwhich is bent to hook form to provide. an upper. jaw formed to engagethe upper corner of the rail base flange and at a location remote fromthe corner and a lower jaw for gripping the bottom of said flange at alocation spaced inwardly from the bearing of the upper jaw, and means atthe tail end of the bar adapted to be flexed outwardly relative to therail into engagement with the vertical edge portion of the beingflattened and widened to provide rail gripping surfaces which aresubstantially wider than the lower jaw portion of the anchor and aresomewhat thinner and more flexiblethan the intermediate portion of ,thebar, whereby the effective width of the anchor for. resisting turningmovement thereof about. a horizontal axisis defiIlSd-bytheplane. ofoneside of: the under-rail portion of the anchor body and the edge ofsaid widened upper jaw which projects beyond the plane of the other sideface of the anchor body and whereby the effective width of the anchorfor resisting turning movement about a vertical axis is defined by oneedge of the upper jaw which bears against the upper corner of the baseflange and the edge of the widened tail portion at the other side of theanchor body.

2. A one-piece rail anchor adapted to be flexed both vertically andtransversely of the rail into resilient gripping engagement with thetop, bottom and edge portions of a rail base, comprising a bar formedintermediate its ends with a downwardly bowed portion for bearingagainst the vertical face of a cross-tie and having laterally extendingportions at either side of the bowed portion for bearing against thebottom surface of the rail base adjacent opposite edges thereof; the barhaving a flattened and widened end portion of greater flexibility thanthe intermediate portion and bent adjacent to said widened portion intohook form to provide a wide upper jaw and a narrower lower jaw forgripping the top and bottom surfaces, respectively, of one flange of therail base at different distances relative to the edge of said flange andhaving a stop surface for engaging the edge of the flange to limitmovement of the hook transversely of the rail; the portion of the anchoradjacent the other edge of the rail being formed with an upstanding tailportion adapted to be flexed outwardly and forced upwardly into lockingengagement with the edge of the rail base, there being a shoulder formedon the outwardly flexible portion adapted to snap over the upper cornerportion of the rail base to lock the anchor in its applied position, thewidened portion of said upper jaw at the hook end of the anchor beingformed to bear only on the top surface of the rail base flange at alocation spaced from the edge of the flange whereby a turning movementof the widened jaw about a vertical axis passing through said stopsurface increases the grip of the upper and lower jaws on the top andbottom surfaces of the said base flange.

3. A one piece rail anchor comprising a bar having an end portion whichdecreases in thickness toward the end and bent adjacent to said end intohook form to provide a lower jaw for bearing on the bottom surface ofone base flange of the rail at a location spaced from the edge thereofand an upper jaw which increases in flexibility toward its end and bearson the top surface of said flange at a location intermediate the edge ofthe flange and thesaid bottom bearing, a downwardly bowed tie abuttingportion, and an upstanding tail portion at the other end of the baradapted to be flexed outwardly and forced upwardly into lockingengagement with the other base flange of the rail; the bend connectingthe upper and lower jaws being formed to contact the upper corner of therail base and provide a substantial clearance above the base between thesaid corner contact and the end bearing surface of the upper jaw,whereby the lower surface of the upper jaw adjacent the said cornercontact will function as a cam to force the jaw outwardly when excessivedownward pressure is applied to said jaw above said clearance.

4. A one-piece rail anchor comprising a metal bar rectangular in crosssection having a flattened and widened end portion and bent adjacent tosaid widened portion into hook form to provide a lower jaw-for bearingon the bottom surface of one base flange of the rail at a 1ocationspaced from the edge thereof and an upper jaw having a relatively 'wideportion which is more flexible than the intermediate portion of the barand bears on the top surface of said flange at a location intermediatethe edge of the flange and the said bottom bearing, a downwardly bowedtie abutting portion, and an upstanding tail portion at the end of thebar adapted to be flexed outwardly and forced upwardly into lockingengagement with the other base flange of a rail; the bend connecting theupper and lower jaws being formed to contact the upper corner of onebase flange of the rail and provide a substantial clearance above saidflange between the corner contact and the end portion of the upper jaw,whereby the lower surface of the upper jaw adjacent the said cornercontact will function as a cam to force the jaw outwardly relative tothe edge of the rail base when excessive downward pressure is applied tosaid jaw above said clearance.

5. A one-piece rail anchor comprising a bar having a body portionadapted to extend across beneath the rail with opposite faces arrangedsubstantially perpendicular to the bottom surface of the rail base sothat either of said faces may bear against a vertical face of across-tie, the said bar being bent adjacent to one end into hook form toprovide an upper jaw for gripping the top surface of one base flange ofthe rail, 2. lower jaw for gripping the bottom surface of said flange ata location spaced inwardly a greater distance from the edge of theflange than the bearing surface of said upper jaw, and to provide also astop surface for engaging the upper corner of said flange to limitmovement of the hook transversely of the rail, and rail engaging meansat the other end of the anchor adapted to be flexed outwardly and forcedupwardly relative to the other base flange of the rail to turn said hookabout the lower jaw as an axis into resilient gripping engagement withthe top and bottom surfaces, respectively, of the first mentioned flangeand to lock the anchor on the rail; the portion of the bar which formsthe said upper jaw being gradually decreased in vertical thickness andincreased in width toward the end so as to provide the said upper jawwith increased flexibility toward its extremity and to provide a widenedportion which projects beyond the side planes of the lower jaw, wherebythe increase in the flexibility of the upper jaw insures downwardpressure contact on the base flange at the said stop surface and at theextremity of the jaw when the anchor is in its applied position andwhereby the effective width of the anchor for resisting turning movementthereof about a horizontal axis extending transversely of the rail isdefined by the vertical plane of one side of the lower jaw and the edgeportion of the widened upper jaw which projects beyond the plane of theother side of said lower jaw.

6. A one-piece rail anchor comprising a bar having a body portionadapted to extend across beneath the rail with opposite faces arrangedsubstantially perpendicular to the bottom surface of the rail base sothat either of said faces may bear against a vertical face of across-tie, the said bar being bent adjacent to one end into hook form toprovide an upper jaw for gripping the top surface of one base flange ofthe rail, a lower jaw for gripping the bottom surface of said flange ata location spaced inwardly a greater distance from the edge of theflange than the bearing surthe said upper jaw with increasedflexibilitytoabout the lower jaw as an axis into resilient gripping engagement withthe top and bottom surfaces, respectively, of the first mentioned flange"and to lock theanchor on the rail; the portion of the bar which formsthe said upper jaw being gradually decreased in vertical thickness andincreased in width toward the end so as to provide ward'its extremityand to provide a widened por- I tion which is substantially wider thansaid step surface andprojects beyond the side planes of the lower jaw,whereby the increase in the flexibility of the upper jaw insuresdownward pressure contact on the base flange at the said stop surfaceand at the extremity of the jaw when the anchor is in its appliedposition and whereby turning movement of the widened jaw about avertical axis passing through said stop surface increases the grip ofthe upper and lower jaws on the top and bottom surface of the rail base.I HAROLD G. WARR.

